Chapter 11 ~ Detention
"I heard all about it," Severus said, cutting off Muriel's story. "Malfoy threw the box at me and stomped off in a rage. Narcissa explained the whole thing."
Muriel was still laughing, in spite of Sev's obvious lack of mirth. Although the snow had melted, the grounds were cold as they walked toward the lake. No one else was outside, which made it the perfect opportunity to talk about Malfoy's boggart.
"Did she tell you that Warrington turned the boggart into a tomato with blond hair? That was the best part. If Malfoy's father ever hears about it there'll be hell to pay for Warrington!"
Severus looked over at his friend. He was amazed at how the trip home had helped her. She was still sad sometimes, and she avoided the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindor who had lost their parents as if her life depended on it, but otherwise she seemed back to normal.
He let her take his hand as they stood looking at the lake. It was still covered in a thin sheet of ice, so there was no squid to watch, but it gave him something to look at besides her. Papa said he was doing very well with Occlumency. He'd been able to report that he'd gotten away with several white lies to Muriel in the last few weeks, and Papa had seemed pleased. He'd sent still more books, and Severus was studying them as hard as he could.
He was excited that he could at least hold her hand without her hearing his thoughts, but he was starting to worry about her ability to sense emotions as well. Obviously she knew, and had always known, exactly how he felt about her. When he'd asked Papa about it, he'd only said that emotions would come later, and be a good deal more difficult. But Severus knew he could do it. If he could stand here and look her in the eye, thinking about Occlumency without giving himself away, then he could close her out entirely. It would just take some time.
Mur looked up at him questioningly. "Severus, are you alright?" she asked quietly.
"Of course. Just wondering if you've tried out any of those pills on Mrs. Norris yet."
She looked at him oddly for a moment. "I dropped a few outside Filch's office, but didn't stick around to see if they worked. We could try tonight if you want. I think I can keep us invisible long enough to watch."
He smirked. It was working. "Okay. I'll meet you in Myrtle's bathroom after dinner. They usually hang around the Great Hall once the kids leave. It would be really funny if he could be there when it happens." They laughed and headed back up to the castle.
They stood in the entrance hall for a moment, rubbing their frozen hands. "Oh, I got an owl from Mother. She wants me to come for Easter." Severus had been meaning to mention this for a week, but didn't want to upset her with talk of going home. Sure enough, her face fell. "She asked if you wanted to come too," he added anyway. It wouldn't do to not invite her at all, even if he was sure she wouldn't come.
"I don't think I can, Sev," she said apologetically. "Papa won't be home, and I'm not ready to be there yet without him."
He nodded. "It's alright. I'll probably just catch up on homework anyway." She smiled, grateful that he understood, then headed up to her dorm to change for dinner. She was dressed much too warmly to be comfortable in the Great Hall!
* * * * * * *
"I'm staying," Peter announced morosely as he plopped down beside Remus. He hated staying at school for the holidays. All his friends went home.
"Great, so are we!" James said happily, making him look up sharply.
"Really?"
"Yeah, Prongs' parents are going away for the holiday so we're stuck here. We sure aren't going to my place!" Sirius had finished his first plate of food and was working on the next. He was proud of James, who'd been the first among them to master his animagus form, and had taken to calling him Prongs. He was jealous because James and Remus had already spent a full moon in the shrieking shack without him, but that only served to intensify his desire to get it right.
James had given him all the advice he could, but there was still something he wasn't getting. Transfiguration just wasn't his best subject, in spite of his grades. He looked up as Muriel walked by on her way to the Ravenclaw table. A glance around the room told him Snape hadn't come in yet.
"Deesia?" he said, jumping up and following her. She spun around with her wand in her hand so fast that he nearly ran into her. His dorm mates looked on, wondering what he could possibly be up to. He usually at least warned them before he started a prank.
"Easy!" he said, smiling. "I was just looking for some information and I remembered you were good at transfiguration, so I thought maybe you could help me." Muriel narrowed her eyes before casting a look around. She wasn't really inclined to help Black with anything after the near fiasco at Christmas.
"Come on, if you can dance three songs with me, you can surely stand to have me around long enough to answer one question." He gave her what he hoped was a winning smile.
Had she really danced with him through three songs? She shook her head to clear it. It didn't matter. "Alright, Black, what do you want to know that James can't tell you? He's top of the class, and you and I aren't far behind him, so I can't imagine that you think I know anything the two of you don't."
"But you do," he said quickly. "I haven't ever transfigured a person before. What do you have to do differently from animals?"
She couldn't help but scoff. "Do you honestly think I WANT you to know how to turn me into a duck? Sorry Black. If you want to get back at me for that one, you've got to do it on your own." She skipped back to her table, for the first time, wondering why she had let herself dance with that boy. It had obviously inflated his already over-large ego.
Marisa had watched the entire exchange with a smile on her face. Her experience with Sirius had gotten her well past the crush she once had on him, but it didn't stop her from noticing how haughty Muriel looked talking to him, or the pleasure she obviously had in goading him. She had also noticed, after Muriel turned her back on him, the odd look on Sirius' face. She determinedly thought about her food as Mur sat down. No reason to upset her already.
As for Sirius, he decided right then and there that Muriel wasn't in the least upset about her mother anymore, which made her fair game for his hexes again. He wasted no time in planning the next prank. He was very comfortable with their ongoing duel, and would be glad to get back to it.
It was this that found them both sitting at opposite ends of Professor Tantry's classroom all day the following Saturday while their friends went to Hogsmeade. Sirius had tried to hit her all week with various curses, and Mur had cast shield charms to block them. Unfortunately most of his hexes had hit the people nearest him, since she'd been trying to aim them back at him. James caught two, and Remus took one that didn't affect him, but neither of them would have told. It was when Lily, who James had finally convinced to walk with them to class, got hit with a bat bogey hex that the whole thing came crashing down. The bats had scratched her face and neck and scared her half to death.
Peter had been sent for Madam Pomfrey and told her that Muriel had cast the hex. She and the marauders had been sent to Dumbledore's office for a long interrogation. It was James who told the Headmaster the truth, apparently with Sirius' and Remus' consent. Muriel had been surprised. They could easily have pinned the whole thing on her, and she certainly felt bad enough about it as it was. Lily hadn't done anything to deserve that hex.
She was startled out of her thoughts when a piece of parchment landed with a swish on top of the book she'd been reading. She frowned, reading it over quickly.
"How did you turn me into a duck? I managed the hamster, but couldn't change Peter into one, even though I know the incantation is a little different. What else has to change?"
She hid the parchment quickly as Professor Tantry came downstairs from his office, and went back to her book: Common Punishments for Careless Spellcasters. Sirius had apparently been given the same book. She was sure the book itself had been written to be a punishment. It was as dull as a flobberworm circus.
Professor Tantry looked at the two students hard. He'd just been summoned to the Headmaster's office and wondered if it would be safe to leave them here together. But they both seemed perfectly well interested in their books, so he continued out of the classroom, closing the door softly behind him.
Sirius turned around in his chair immediately. "Well?"
She ignored him.
"Mur, come on, I know you can tell me how to do it!" Somehow, Sirius was sure that if he could just understand this one thing, it would help him become an animagi. Then he could join Remus and James at the next full moon.
She sighed and put her book aside. "You have to have an understanding of someone to transform him. I probably wouldn't be able to cast it on Professor Tantry, because I don't know him very well. But YOU I understand just fine. It's about knowing deep down what someone is like."
Sirius was looking at her incredulously. How could she know deep down what he was like? They'd hardly ever spoken. And could that apply to animagi transformations too? Maybe there were some things he wasn't admitting about himself that were getting in his way.
Muriel fought back a smile. He was trying to become an animagus. No wonder he wanted all the information he could get. She picked up her book again and smirked at the words, not reading them.
"You don't understand me!" he exclaimed heatedly. She raised an eyebrow and lowered her book again, still smirking.
"I understand that you're an egotistical prat trying desperately to convince the world that your mother's indifference doesn't hurt you," she said forcefully, realizing at once that the reason she understood this about him was that it described her as well.
She plastered a grin on her face as he sputtered, unable to come up with a suitable response. "Apparently that was enough understanding to make the spell work," she said smugly, ignoring the wrenching feeling in her chest. Had her own mother's coldness really mattered to her so much? She pushed the feeling aside and concentrated on the anger emanating from Sirius instead.
He turned around sharply in his seat and picked up the book again, furious with himself for even talking to her. Muriel finished the book half an hour later and left a note in it for Professor Tantry before heading back to Ravenclaw tower. It was nearly time for dinner, and she was pleased. That little exchange had been better than a prank. She could tell that he hadn't read another word in the book until after she'd left, because he was so angry.
"I heard all about it," Severus said, cutting off Muriel's story. "Malfoy threw the box at me and stomped off in a rage. Narcissa explained the whole thing."
Muriel was still laughing, in spite of Sev's obvious lack of mirth. Although the snow had melted, the grounds were cold as they walked toward the lake. No one else was outside, which made it the perfect opportunity to talk about Malfoy's boggart.
"Did she tell you that Warrington turned the boggart into a tomato with blond hair? That was the best part. If Malfoy's father ever hears about it there'll be hell to pay for Warrington!"
Severus looked over at his friend. He was amazed at how the trip home had helped her. She was still sad sometimes, and she avoided the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindor who had lost their parents as if her life depended on it, but otherwise she seemed back to normal.
He let her take his hand as they stood looking at the lake. It was still covered in a thin sheet of ice, so there was no squid to watch, but it gave him something to look at besides her. Papa said he was doing very well with Occlumency. He'd been able to report that he'd gotten away with several white lies to Muriel in the last few weeks, and Papa had seemed pleased. He'd sent still more books, and Severus was studying them as hard as he could.
He was excited that he could at least hold her hand without her hearing his thoughts, but he was starting to worry about her ability to sense emotions as well. Obviously she knew, and had always known, exactly how he felt about her. When he'd asked Papa about it, he'd only said that emotions would come later, and be a good deal more difficult. But Severus knew he could do it. If he could stand here and look her in the eye, thinking about Occlumency without giving himself away, then he could close her out entirely. It would just take some time.
Mur looked up at him questioningly. "Severus, are you alright?" she asked quietly.
"Of course. Just wondering if you've tried out any of those pills on Mrs. Norris yet."
She looked at him oddly for a moment. "I dropped a few outside Filch's office, but didn't stick around to see if they worked. We could try tonight if you want. I think I can keep us invisible long enough to watch."
He smirked. It was working. "Okay. I'll meet you in Myrtle's bathroom after dinner. They usually hang around the Great Hall once the kids leave. It would be really funny if he could be there when it happens." They laughed and headed back up to the castle.
They stood in the entrance hall for a moment, rubbing their frozen hands. "Oh, I got an owl from Mother. She wants me to come for Easter." Severus had been meaning to mention this for a week, but didn't want to upset her with talk of going home. Sure enough, her face fell. "She asked if you wanted to come too," he added anyway. It wouldn't do to not invite her at all, even if he was sure she wouldn't come.
"I don't think I can, Sev," she said apologetically. "Papa won't be home, and I'm not ready to be there yet without him."
He nodded. "It's alright. I'll probably just catch up on homework anyway." She smiled, grateful that he understood, then headed up to her dorm to change for dinner. She was dressed much too warmly to be comfortable in the Great Hall!
* * * * * * *
"I'm staying," Peter announced morosely as he plopped down beside Remus. He hated staying at school for the holidays. All his friends went home.
"Great, so are we!" James said happily, making him look up sharply.
"Really?"
"Yeah, Prongs' parents are going away for the holiday so we're stuck here. We sure aren't going to my place!" Sirius had finished his first plate of food and was working on the next. He was proud of James, who'd been the first among them to master his animagus form, and had taken to calling him Prongs. He was jealous because James and Remus had already spent a full moon in the shrieking shack without him, but that only served to intensify his desire to get it right.
James had given him all the advice he could, but there was still something he wasn't getting. Transfiguration just wasn't his best subject, in spite of his grades. He looked up as Muriel walked by on her way to the Ravenclaw table. A glance around the room told him Snape hadn't come in yet.
"Deesia?" he said, jumping up and following her. She spun around with her wand in her hand so fast that he nearly ran into her. His dorm mates looked on, wondering what he could possibly be up to. He usually at least warned them before he started a prank.
"Easy!" he said, smiling. "I was just looking for some information and I remembered you were good at transfiguration, so I thought maybe you could help me." Muriel narrowed her eyes before casting a look around. She wasn't really inclined to help Black with anything after the near fiasco at Christmas.
"Come on, if you can dance three songs with me, you can surely stand to have me around long enough to answer one question." He gave her what he hoped was a winning smile.
Had she really danced with him through three songs? She shook her head to clear it. It didn't matter. "Alright, Black, what do you want to know that James can't tell you? He's top of the class, and you and I aren't far behind him, so I can't imagine that you think I know anything the two of you don't."
"But you do," he said quickly. "I haven't ever transfigured a person before. What do you have to do differently from animals?"
She couldn't help but scoff. "Do you honestly think I WANT you to know how to turn me into a duck? Sorry Black. If you want to get back at me for that one, you've got to do it on your own." She skipped back to her table, for the first time, wondering why she had let herself dance with that boy. It had obviously inflated his already over-large ego.
Marisa had watched the entire exchange with a smile on her face. Her experience with Sirius had gotten her well past the crush she once had on him, but it didn't stop her from noticing how haughty Muriel looked talking to him, or the pleasure she obviously had in goading him. She had also noticed, after Muriel turned her back on him, the odd look on Sirius' face. She determinedly thought about her food as Mur sat down. No reason to upset her already.
As for Sirius, he decided right then and there that Muriel wasn't in the least upset about her mother anymore, which made her fair game for his hexes again. He wasted no time in planning the next prank. He was very comfortable with their ongoing duel, and would be glad to get back to it.
It was this that found them both sitting at opposite ends of Professor Tantry's classroom all day the following Saturday while their friends went to Hogsmeade. Sirius had tried to hit her all week with various curses, and Mur had cast shield charms to block them. Unfortunately most of his hexes had hit the people nearest him, since she'd been trying to aim them back at him. James caught two, and Remus took one that didn't affect him, but neither of them would have told. It was when Lily, who James had finally convinced to walk with them to class, got hit with a bat bogey hex that the whole thing came crashing down. The bats had scratched her face and neck and scared her half to death.
Peter had been sent for Madam Pomfrey and told her that Muriel had cast the hex. She and the marauders had been sent to Dumbledore's office for a long interrogation. It was James who told the Headmaster the truth, apparently with Sirius' and Remus' consent. Muriel had been surprised. They could easily have pinned the whole thing on her, and she certainly felt bad enough about it as it was. Lily hadn't done anything to deserve that hex.
She was startled out of her thoughts when a piece of parchment landed with a swish on top of the book she'd been reading. She frowned, reading it over quickly.
"How did you turn me into a duck? I managed the hamster, but couldn't change Peter into one, even though I know the incantation is a little different. What else has to change?"
She hid the parchment quickly as Professor Tantry came downstairs from his office, and went back to her book: Common Punishments for Careless Spellcasters. Sirius had apparently been given the same book. She was sure the book itself had been written to be a punishment. It was as dull as a flobberworm circus.
Professor Tantry looked at the two students hard. He'd just been summoned to the Headmaster's office and wondered if it would be safe to leave them here together. But they both seemed perfectly well interested in their books, so he continued out of the classroom, closing the door softly behind him.
Sirius turned around in his chair immediately. "Well?"
She ignored him.
"Mur, come on, I know you can tell me how to do it!" Somehow, Sirius was sure that if he could just understand this one thing, it would help him become an animagi. Then he could join Remus and James at the next full moon.
She sighed and put her book aside. "You have to have an understanding of someone to transform him. I probably wouldn't be able to cast it on Professor Tantry, because I don't know him very well. But YOU I understand just fine. It's about knowing deep down what someone is like."
Sirius was looking at her incredulously. How could she know deep down what he was like? They'd hardly ever spoken. And could that apply to animagi transformations too? Maybe there were some things he wasn't admitting about himself that were getting in his way.
Muriel fought back a smile. He was trying to become an animagus. No wonder he wanted all the information he could get. She picked up her book again and smirked at the words, not reading them.
"You don't understand me!" he exclaimed heatedly. She raised an eyebrow and lowered her book again, still smirking.
"I understand that you're an egotistical prat trying desperately to convince the world that your mother's indifference doesn't hurt you," she said forcefully, realizing at once that the reason she understood this about him was that it described her as well.
She plastered a grin on her face as he sputtered, unable to come up with a suitable response. "Apparently that was enough understanding to make the spell work," she said smugly, ignoring the wrenching feeling in her chest. Had her own mother's coldness really mattered to her so much? She pushed the feeling aside and concentrated on the anger emanating from Sirius instead.
He turned around sharply in his seat and picked up the book again, furious with himself for even talking to her. Muriel finished the book half an hour later and left a note in it for Professor Tantry before heading back to Ravenclaw tower. It was nearly time for dinner, and she was pleased. That little exchange had been better than a prank. She could tell that he hadn't read another word in the book until after she'd left, because he was so angry.